Stock birdside antenna replacement

[Matts175]

Very nice. Be sure to report back after a test flight.

 

[Matts175]

I decided to try some thicker "low loss" RG178 cables today, thinking it might make a difference. I also ordered them in 6" instead of 8". The 6" ones are a lot better, length wise. Anyways.... it was a BEAR trying to work with those thick cables, but I got them on there. No flying today though. It's cold and snowing out.

 

[k9time]

I decided to try some thicker "low loss" RG178 cables today, thinking it might make a difference. I also ordered them in 6" instead of 8". The 6" ones are a lot better, length wise. Anyways.... it was a BEAR trying to work with those thick cables, but I got them on there. No flying today though. It's cold and snowing out.

How hard was it to get the little doors back on? I wondered about thicker wires but thought maybe the thicker wires might make the ends pop off where it connects to gimble. Hopefully the doors exert enough pressure to hold them on.
No flying to test here either. Can't wait..

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[Matts175]

How hard was it to get the little doors back on? I wondered about thicker wires but thought maybe the thicker wires might make the ends pop off where it connects to gimble. Hopefully the doors exert enough pressure to hold them on.
No flying to test here either. Can't wait..

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It really wasn't that hard to get the doors on. Yeah.... I think the doors hold down the u.fl connector, so everything should be fine. The bear was getting the thicker wire through that pre cut channel. Patience is needed.

 

[Matts175]

I just ordered a bunch of supplies to make these as a kit. I know a lot of guys can't solder and they want this mod, but don't want to pay $50+ the cost of the u.fl to RP-SMA cables. I'm going to sell them at 2 for $30.00 and I'm going to include the 2 u.fl to RP-SMA wires also. At first, I'll ship only to the US. I'm going to make enough for 10 birds and see how it goes.

 

[k9time]

Yeah that's cool and maybe a little video on install. It sounds complicated but it's not. Another thing you could make up is a hole pattern guide to get the holes on legs right. That was hard for me as nothing to measure off of.

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[Matts175]

LOL. I meant to post all of this in the "Homemade" antennas thread.

Homemade dipole antennas for 2.4ghz

 

[WilliamM]

It really wasn't that hard to get the doors on. Yeah.... I think the doors hold down the u.fl connector, so everything should be fine. The bear was getting the thicker wire through that pre cut channel. Patience is needed.

On my dipoles as they did not come with wires to connect to the gimbal board. I just use my leftovers from my DBS kit and used the thin wires that came with it. I had upgraded to thicker cables which may be the ones you're referring to, inside my remote when doing the DBS mod. They seem to be no thinner than the stock wires (gray + black), at least conductor wise. And my results have been pretty good so far, so I don't think I'm going to mess with success.

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[Matts175]

so I don't think I'm going to mess with success.

See..... that's my problem. When something is working well, I always have to mess with it. It's my downfall sometimes. Anyways, In these kits I'm going to make up, I'm including the skinny ones, 6" long. I do feel that the 6" is neater. I'll keep with the skinny ones because we know they work and they are MUCH easier to install. I can't wait until the stuff gets here. This is going to be fun and the Wife wants to help. At my price point, I'm not making a killer profit, just a little for my time.

 

[k9time]

My though is if I hook a limb or something the skinny one would just pull off the stud and through the pre cut channel. I don't know about the RG 178. Will it pull through the channel no harm no foul?

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[Matts175]

My though is if I hook a limb or something the skinny one would just pull off the stud and through the pre cut channel. I don't know about the RG 178. Will it pull through the channel no harm no foul?

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No. It fits very tight.

I think though if you are that close to a tree... you're going to have a lot more to worry about than a little cable snagging.

 

[k9time]

On my dipoles as they did not come with wires to connect to the gimbal board. I just use my leftovers from my DBS kit and used the thin wires that came with it. I had upgraded to thicker cables which may be the ones you're referring to, inside my remote when doing the DBS mod. They seem to be no thinner than the stock wires (gray + black), at least conductor wise. And my results have been pretty good so far, so I don't think I'm going to mess with success.

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Any more tests William? I've only got to fly a couple times in not so good weather but I'm beginning to think maybe wasn't a good idea for stock Maxx antenna. My range isn't better, signal just stops dead when it stops and I can back it back home when it comes to but not turn it and drive it home. To directional? Got those flat panels coming for my ARGtec setup, going to give them a try before I go back to stock bird side. Would value your thoughts.. Thanks

 

[WilliamM]

Any more tests William? I've only got to fly a couple times in not so good weather but I'm beginning to think maybe wasn't a good idea for stock Maxx antenna. My range isn't better, signal just stops dead when it stops and I can back it back home when it comes to but not turn it and drive it home. To directional? Got those flat panels coming for my ARGtec setup, going to give them a try before I go back to stock bird side. Would value your thoughts.. Thanks

For me those dipole antennas I got from them work exceptionally. Now I do have a powered DBS on my remote. My record so far and this was mostly due to battery constrain reasons was just over 4500 meters which is almost 15,000 feet. With exceptional video connection the entire trip there and back. So since adding them it's probably increased my range on that test approximately 1400 meters

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[WilliamM]

Not to rub salt in the wounds, but you did ask. The most recent test I did was in a very congested interference area. Back when I had a DBS only, not powered. It could only get maybe 800 meters. Then after adding amplifiers to my setup it only crease maybe to 1000 meters, same location. Now after adding these dipole antennas we got. I blew right past that very same POI, doubling my range to over 2,000 metres and then only stopped because I was starting to fly into a populated area and didn't want to fight over.

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[WilliamM]

Any more tests William? I've only got to fly a couple times in not so good weather but I'm beginning to think maybe wasn't a good idea for stock Maxx antenna. My range isn't better, signal just stops dead when it stops and I can back it back home when it comes to but not turn it and drive it home. To directional? Got those flat panels coming for my ARGtec setup, going to give them a try before I go back to stock bird side. Would value your thoughts.. Thanks

Excuse me if you've covered this in a previous post. But are you in a CE or FCC area? Also what max range were you getting as stock, before ANY mods.

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[k9time]

FCC.. Oregon with lots of those green trees you mentioned in another post. Don't really know what the bird did stock as never flew it much before ARGtec. The Maxx gained me about 800 ft over ARGtec. But in the country went out 6500 ft and turned around and came back with full bars. Really believe in the Maxx. Will try the new flat panels on the ARGtec just because I have it but don't really see that as the end product. Thanks for your results as gives me confidence going in right direction. Think amps is where it's at. Jake said something in a email about a dual band amp coming out but he no longer shows it on his website . It is what I've been thinking about. Would really simplify setup.

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[k9time]

Broke the little copper wire on one dipole. Hooked one of the stock wires back up. Don't really know which side I hooked up but getting about the same range as when both bazooka's were in place. Jake has me a replacement coming. Great service..

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[WilliamM]

Set a new range record today, that's the max with a stock battery for me. Landed at 12%, I'm not going any lower that that. Even installed my CF props so I'd have max speed for the return trip, and pushed it to 100% forward most of the way back @ 38 mph. 5038 meters (16,529').
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

 

[Matts175]

Set a new range record today, that's the max with a stock battery for me. Landed at 12%, I'm not going any lower that that. Even installed my CF props so I'd have max speed for the return trip, and pushed it to 100% forward most of the way back @ 38 mph. 5038 meters (16,529').
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Wow! Congratulations!

 

[WilliamM]

As a side note, I hope no one is powering on their drone without the dipoles (or whatever your using) installed. Could cause damage.